Page 79 of Between a Rock and a Hard Cowboy

“Darcy probably had them up at dawn so we’re already late.” She felt him sneaking his hand between her thighs and suddenly she wasn’t in such a rush to get to the mansion. “Unless you have something for me before we leave.”

He groaned again and pulled her down toward his mouth. “It so happens that I do.”

Rolling them both over, he hovered above her, staring at her as if he was trying to see inside her head. Then the moment was gone and so was his sleepiness as he attacked her mouth and parts lower.

A bit later she had to shower—they both did. Then it was a rush to get up to the mansion, without even having coffee first, because now they were really running late.

Everyone was there waiting more or less patiently as they blew through the door.

Darcy had been allowed to open her gifts from “Santa” so she wouldn’t lose her mind waiting. And Poppy had put aside bagels and jelly sticks for her and Linc before they were all devoured by the hungry crowd of Wilders and guests who’d woken up in the mansion that morning.

Eva didn’t feel left out or jealous she hadn’t been in on the big sleepover which included everyone except her and Linc. There were benefits that came exclusively with the lodge—such as Linc’s bed. And Linc in it.

Speaking of Linc, he was back to being inexplicably silent and surly. She chose to ignore him. For now. It was Christmas, dammit, and this year she was going to enjoy it.

Armed with coffee and an oh so messy but absolutely amazingly good jelly stick, Eva plopped down on the floor near the fire not too far from the tree and said, “Okay. Presents now.”

Wyatt glanced around, feigning confusion. “I thought Darcy got her gifts. Oh, wait, that was Eva demanding presents. Not my five-year-old.” He grinned, looking relaxed and happy for the first time in a while.

Olivia smiled. “I’m ready to see everyone open their gifts too. Heck, I’m so happy to be out of bed I don’t even need a present.”

Wyatt rubbed her back as she rested her hands on her own stomach. They were the picture of marital and maternal bliss…and Eva still wanted to move on to the presents.

She clapped her hands together once. “So how do we do this, Wilders? Does someone crawl under the tree and distribute them? I vote Darcy do the crawling. Wait, can she even read the tags?”

“I can do it.” William said, bracing one hand on a nearby chair as he slowly kneeled down.

That made Eva feel bad she didn’t offer to do it instead. But when no one else jumped up to help, including his children, she decided not to worry too much about it and focused on what William had pulled out from beneath the tree.

It was an envelope, small and square and red and she could see it wasn’t her gift to Linc.

Breathing deep with impatience, she settled back to wait.

“Okay, this first one is for Olivia,” William announced, handing it to her.

“Thank you.” Olivia pulled out a card, then smiled, glancing between Poppy and Eva. “It’s a complete makeover and spa day—hair, nails, toes, massage, scrub, wrap, food, drinks and a night at the hotel for me and two friends. And it comes with a day and night of babysitting services for Darcy and the baby, courtesy of Grandpa.” She leveled a smile at William. “Thank you, Grandpa.”

“Don’t thank me. That’s from your Secret Santa.”

“I enjoy that Santa included us.” Poppy smiled.

“Hey, you don’t know that. Maybe Olivia will take me and Wyatt for a spa day instead,” Ethan suggested.

“Not a chance. Sorry, baby. No offense.” Olivia shot her husband a look.

“None taken.”

“Okay, next. Ethan.” William handed his middle son a large thick envelope.

“It saysStar Registration,” Ethan read from the outside. “Let’s see what this could be.”

He tore into it with less care than Olivia had hers and grinned when he pulled out a colored brochure and an official looking certificate.

“Secret Santa named a star for me. Two actually. It’s called a binary star, which is two stars that orbit each other and they’ve been namedPoppy and Ethan.”

“Aw.” Poppy, teary-eyed, pursed her lips together. “That’s so sweet.”

Eva glanced at Linc, who she remembered had become quite a star gazer lately. She’d bet anything he was the giver of this gift. Which was impressively thoughtful and had made Poppy—tears aside—just as happy as Ethan.

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